Using Psychology
to Lose Weight
control over
being able to resist
something that’s hard for you to do or to think about, so you exert more effort
exercising self-control
saying “no” to
resisting temptation
self-denial
some people have more of it
makes you able to stick to it
willpower is an ability
even when you don’t have the motivation, you still can use your willpower
you can put off gratifying yourself
having willpower is thought of as being strong or strong-minded
willpower is limited; you can’t keep it up forever; you might not be able to keep it up even for very long
exertion of too much willpower for one use might leave you with not enough willpower for another use
keeping your long-term goal in the front of your mind and continuously working for you
focusing your attention and concentrating can take willpower
What if it’s not willpower that’s doing it for you?
Could it be a set of skills like any of the following:
- You might handle the difficult weight-loss situation
(e.g., being tempted) by becoming playful, or thinking of it factually rather
than emotionally, or by distracting yourself in some way. Are you using your willpower?
- What about planning? If you planned for a high-risk situation like eating out, then you probably wouldn’t think you were dealing with the situation by using your willpower.
- Willpower, or what looks like willpower, can be built by focusing on short-term goals, having lots of success with them, becoming more confident, thereby giving you what you need to tackle harder goals later on.
- You can work hard and well on short-term goals, making it look like you’re using willpower, but you’re really seeing the connection between short-term goals and longer-term goals.
